EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE MONITOR 2019 - ReliefWeb

EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE MONITOR 2019

Introduction 1

Key findings 3

Key terms 7

2019 overview 9

Casualty-causing incidents of explosive violence 15

recorded by AOAV in 2019

Explosive weapons in populated areas 17

Explosive weapons types 22

Air-launched explosive weapons 23

Ground-launched explosive weapons 25

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) 27

Conclusion 31

Recommendations 33

Methodology 34

Notes 37

Report byJennifer Dathan

EditorIain Overton

Copyright © Action on Armed Violence (2020)

Cover illustrationA boy rides on the back of a truck through Khan Shaykhun, Syria. Anas Aldyab, July 7th 2019. Pexels.

Design and printingTutaev Design

Clarifications or corrections from interested parties are welcome.

Research and publication funded by the Government of Norway, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Contents

https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-civill-cold-displacement-2623787/

https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-civill-cold-displacement-2623787/

‘‘In this report, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) presents the 2019 findings from the Explosive Violence Monitoring Project (EVMP) – the ninth consecutive year of the monitor. The EVMP tracks the impact of explosive weapon use worldwide as reported in English-language media.

In 2019, AOAV recorded 29,485 deaths and injuries as a result of the use of explosive weapons.

As with every year for the past nine years, civilians continued to bear the burden of this violence. Of those harmed in 2019, two-thirds (66%) were civilians.

In 2019, of those reported harmed by explosive weapons in populated areas, 90% were civilians. In addition, civilian casualties in populated areas accounted for 92% of total civilian casualties.

These findings are part of a consistent pattern of harm that AOAV has persistently monitored since 2010. Over the last nine years of monitoring AOAV has found that when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, on average nine in every ten of the deaths and injuries caused were civilians.

Even when explosive weapons are targeted at military objectives, oftentimes bystanders are caught by the blast or hit by projected fragments, particularly when the explosive weapon used has wide area effects – this is a predictable harm that is repeatedly evidenced by AOAV2 and its colleagues.3

Specifically, in 2019, Syria remained the worst impacted country. Iraq dropped out of the five worst-impacted for the first time in seven years. Afghanistan continued to suffer high levels of civilian harm from explosive weapons: AOAV recorded an 8% increase in civilian casualties in Afghanistan compared to the previous year.

AOAV’s data is not an attempt to capture every casualty of every incident around the world. No claims are made that this sample of data, taken from English-language media reporting, can represent the total impact of explosive weapons on civilians in 2019.

Since the monitor began in 2010, AOAV has recorded the appalling suffering caused across the globe by both manufactured and improvised weapons. States and other users must politically commit to stop using explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas. The harm recorded in 2019, and reflected in this report, illustrates the stark urgency needed to reach this commitment.

Explosive weapons: Weapons that share common charac-teristics causing deaths, injuries, and damage by projecting explosive blast, heat and often fragmentation around a point of detonation. These weapons include a variety of munitions such as air-dropped bombs, mortars, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and artillery shells.

Introduction

Last year, for the ninth year running, 90 per cent of people killed by explosive weapons in populated areas were civilians. I urge all governments to make a strong commitment to avoid the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas.

UN Secretary General. Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, 27 May 2020.1

A child at a refugee camp in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

1 | ACTION ON ARMED VIOLENCE EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE MONITOR 2019 | 2

OVERVIEW

• When explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 90% of those killed and injured were civilians. This compares to 16% in other areas.

• In total, 17,910 civilians were killed and injured in populated areas.

• AOAV recorded 29,485 deaths and injuries by explosive weapons in 3,816 casualty-causing incidents in 2019. Of these, 19,401 were civilians – 66%.

• In total, 13,169 people were killed (of which 6,476 were civilians) and 16,316 were injured (of which 12,925 were civilians) by explosive weapons globally.

• Civilian deaths and injuries in populated areas represented 92% of all reported civilian deaths and injuries.

• Civilian deaths and injuries from explosive violence saw a decrease of 13% in 2019, compared to 2018. This is the third consecutive year in which AOAV has recorded a drop in civilian casualties from explosive violence globally.

• Manufactured explosive weapons accounted for at least 9,811 civilian casualties (52%).

• Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) accounted for at least 9,089 civilian casualties (48%).

• A further 501 civilian casualties were caused by incidents using multiple types of launch methods.

• IEDs were responsible for at least 47% of all civilian casualties from explosive violence in 2019. Air-launched explosive weapons were responsible for 28% of all civilian deaths and injuries. Ground-launched explosive weapons were responsible for 20%. The remaining 4% were caused by incidents using multiples types of explosive weapons (3%), mines (1%), naval- launched explosives (<1%) and those recorded with an unclear launch method (<1%).

• Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya saw the highest number of civilian deaths and injuries in 2019 with 7,256, 4,630, 1,345, 950 and 906 civilian casualties respectively.

• Despite a fall in reported deaths and injuries, Syria saw more than 8,774 deaths and injuries recorded by AOAV from explosive violence alone in 2019 – 83% were civilians.

• Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Sri Lanka saw a significant rise in civilian deaths and injuries as a result of explosive weapons compared to the year before.

• Eight countries and territories saw over 500 civilian deaths and injuries in 2019.

• Casualty-causing incidents of explosive violence were recorded in 60 countries and territories around the world; four less locations than in 2018.

Key Findings


EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE IN 2019

TOTAL REPORTED DEATHS & INJURIES: 29,485TOTAL CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES: 19,401

66%CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

DEADLY WEAPONS

92% 53,597

CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

AVERAGE CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIESPER ATTACK

TOTAL DEATHS & INJURIES

478%3,177

1996%1,499

VILLAGE

URBAN RESIDENTAL

TARGETED AREAS

MARKETS

13%DECREASE IN TOTAL CIVILIAN

DEATHS & INJURIES

101–1,000 INCIDENTS

21-100 INCIDENTS

1000+ INCIDENTS

11–20 INCIDENTS

2–10 INCIDENTS

1 INCIDENT

90% CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES IN POPULATED AREAS

31%DECREASE IN AVERAGE NUMBER

OF CIVILIAN DEATHS PER DAY

2018 2019

POPULATED AREAS

NON-POPULATED AREAS

60NUMBER OF COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES

WHERE EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE WAS REPORTED

1,597 ATTACKS IN NON-POPULATED AREAS15% CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES IN NON-POPULATED AREAS

DATA: AOAV, BASED ON ENGLISH-LANGUAGE MEDIA REPORTS

20% 28% 5%

CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES BY AIR-LAUNCHED, GROUND-LAUNCHED AND IEDS, 2011 – 2019

CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES BY WEAPON LAUNCH METHOD

COMBINATIONSOR UNCLEAR

47%

AIR-LAUNCHED

GROUND-LAUNCHED

IEDs (IMPROVISEDEXPLOSIVE DEVICES)

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

2011 2012 20192018

Ground-launched IEDsAir-launched

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

2,219 ATTACKS IN POPULATED AREAS

2018 2019

1826

CIVILIAN/ARMED ACTOR OR SECURITY PERSONNEL:Casualties were recorded as ‘armed actors’ only if they were reported as being part of the state military, were members of non-state armed groups, or were security personnel who AOAV considered likely to be armed. This includes police, security guards, intelligence officers, and paramilitary forces. All casualties not reported as belonging to these armed groups were recorded as civilians.

EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE INCIDENT: Refers to the use of explosive weapons that caused at least one casualty and took place in a 24-hour period.

POPULATED AREA:Refers to areas likely to contain concentrations of civilians.4

WIDE-AREA EFFECTS:Refers to the use of explosive weapons, which result in a large blast and fragmentation radius, lack accurate delivery systems, and/or, use multiple munitions.5

EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS TYPES:Weapons were classified by AOAV based on consistently-used language in media reporting. The categories used are deliberately broad in order to capture a range of different weapon types in light of considerable variance in the level of detail provided by news sources.

• Multiple types: Used to refer to incidents where a combination of different explosive weapon types were used and it was not possible to attribute casualties to each munition. These can involve any combination of air, ground- launched, or improvised explosive devices. The category most commonly includes attacks where ground-launched weapons such as rockets and artillery shells were fired together.

• Mine: Refers to incidents where the explosive weapon was described as a mine or landmine. These include both antipersonnel and anti-vehicle mines.6

GROUND-LAUNCHED:

• Shelling (unspecified): The broadest recording category in this grouping. It refers to reports of the use of explosive shells that do not specify how they were delivered (e.g. mortars, rockets, artillery, or tanks).

• Artillery shell: An explosive projectile fired from a gun, cannon, howitzer or recoilless gun/rifle. This refers to medium and large-calibre munitions pri- marily designed to fire indirectly. Artillery shells were recorded wherever specified in news sources.

• Missile: Recorded where reported in news sources, or where a ground-launched missile type was reported in the incident (e.g. SCUD, MANPAD). Ground- launched missiles can range from shoulder-mounted to ballistic missiles.

• Rocket: Recorded where reported in news sources, or where a known ground-launched rocket type was reported in the incident (e.g. Grad, Katyusha).

• Mortar: Recorded where reports specified that a mortar bomb was the munition used.10

• Tank shell: Explosive shells fired by tanks.

• Grenade: Recorded where reports indicate grenades deployed an explosive blast and/or fragmentation. Grenades specified as ‘homemade’ were recorded as IEDs.

• RPG: Rocket-propelled grenades. Grenades which are rifle-launched were recorded as grenades rather than RPGs.

AIR-LAUNCHED:

• Air strike: The broadest recording category in this grouping. It refers to incidents where explosive weapons were reported as delivered by drones, planes, helicopters, or other aircraft, and the type of munition fired was not specified in the news source.7 Where the munition used is specified in news sources it is recorded as one of the following more specific weapon categories below.

• Air-dropped bomb: References to areas being ‘bombed’ by military aircraft were recorded as air-dropped bomb incidents. This can include makeshift manually-deployed bombs, as well as cluster bombs.

• Missile: Recorded where explosive missiles delivered by air were reported in a news source, most commonly in drone attacks.8

• Rocket: Typically used to refer to unguided missiles, rockets were recorded wherever they are specified in a news source.9

IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES (IEDS):

• Non-specific IED: The broadest recording category in this grouping. It refers to all IEDs which could not be categorised as either ‘roadside bombs’ or ‘car bombs.’

• Car bomb: Incidents where the IED was clearly described as a ‘car bomb,’ or other vehicles like trucks were used. IEDs which were reported as being attached to vehicles, such as a sticky bomb attached to a politician’s car or a remote control IED attached to a bicycle, were recorded as ‘Non-specific IEDs.’

• Roadside bomb: IEDs which were either specifically reported as ‘roadside bombs’ or where an IED was reported to be used alongside a road and no further information was provided.

Key terms


In 2019, AOAV recorded 29,485 people killed or injured by explosive weapons in 3,816 casualty-causing incidents around the world. Of these, 19,401 were civilians.

Overall, 13,169 people were killed by explosive violence, of which 6,476 were civilians. 16,316 people were injured by such weapons, of which 12,925 were civilians.

civilians when explosive weapons were used in lesser populated areas.

On average, AOAV recorded 1,617 civilian casualties reported per month, compared to an average of 840 armed actors. This means that, every day, there were on average 53 civilians reported killed or injured by explosive weapons (compared to 28 armed actors).

18 civilians were reported killed, on average, every single day from explosive weapon use in 2019 around the world.

2019 HOTSPOTS AOAV recorded at least one death or injury from an explosive weapon attack in 60 different countries and territories (see map on page 15).22 This is four less than recorded in 2018.23

Casualties from explosive weapons were reported in 13 countries and territories in 2019 that had not been impacted in 2018.24

As Figure 2 shows, Syria was the country with the most civilian deaths and injuries in 2019 followed by Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.

In 2019, AOAV recorded a decrease in deaths and injuries from explosive violence recorded around the world. In total, there was a 13% decrease in civilian deaths and injuries, compared to the previous year.

This is the third consecutive year in which AOAV has recorded a drop in total civilian casualties. This decrease is thought to reflect the continued fall in civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria, with less civilian casualties from ISIS’ use of explosive weapons and a drop in state violence to target ISIS.

Despite such falls, other countries saw substantial increases in civilian casualties, particularly Afghanistan.

Globally, it remained the case that civilians constitute the majority of casualties from explosive weapon use, accounting for almost 66% of all recorded deaths and injuries.

Civilians also continued to be most at risk when explosive weapons were used in populated areas – a well-established pattern of harm.11

In 2019, 58% of all recorded incidents recorded took place in populated areas. In those attacks, 90% of those killed or injured were reported as civilians. This compares to 16% of victims being reported as

SyriaAlthough Syria remained the worst impacted country globally from explosive violence, AOAV recorded a 24% decrease in civilian casualties (from 9,588 in 2018 to 7,256 in 2019), alongside a rise in casualty-causing explosive incidents (from 1,224 in 2018 to 1,480 in 2019). This seems be due to incidents using smaller devices, as well as the use of explosive weapons in areas that have experienced a lot of displacement.

The worst impacted regions were Idlib and Aleppo. In total, these areas accounted for 70% of all civilian casualties from explosive weapons in Syria, with 1,259 from Aleppo (17% of the total civilian casualties in Syria) and 3,824 from Idlib (53%).

Russian and Syrian airstrikes accounted for the majority of civilian casualties in Idlib. State actors were responsible for 91% of civilian casualties from explosive violence in Idlib in 2019.

In total, across the entirety of the country, state actors were responsible for at least two-thirds (66%) of civilian casualties from explosive violence. Airstrikes were responsible for 47% of total civilian casualties in Syria.

2019 Overview

AOAV recorded 29,485 casualties (people who were killed or injured) by explosive weapons in 3,816 incidents in 2019.

Of the casualties recorded in 2019, 66% were civilians (19,401 civilians killed and injured).

This was a 13% decrease in civilian casualties from explosive violence compared to 2018.

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov DecJan

Civilian deaths and injuriesArmed actors deaths and injuries

Incident Location Civilian casualties

Worst explosive incidents of 2019 in terms of civilian harm

Figure 1 Casualties by month in 2019

Multiple suicide attacks at churches and hotels across West Sri Lanka 753and East Sri Lanka12

Suicide bomber targets a wedding in Kabul13 Afghanistan 245

Car bomb detonates in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu14 Somalia 228

Car bomb targets crowded area of Ghazni city15 Afghanistan 186

Saudi-led coalition airstrike hits Houthi detention center Yemen 175in Dhamar16

Airstrikes hit migrant detention centre outside Tripoli17 Libya 174

Car bomb explodes outside police station in Kabul18 Afghanistan 159

Russian airstrikes target market and residential areas Syria 147in Maarat al-Numan19

Bomb detonated outside Green Village compound in Kabul20 Afghanistan 135

Taliban suicide bomber detonates truck bomb near hospital Afghanistan 134in Qalat, Zabul21


AfghanistanAfghanistan continued to see a rise in civilian casualties from explosive violence in 2019; following increases in both 2017 and 2018. Last year, there was an 8% increase in civilian casualties (from 4,268 in 2018 to 4,630 in 2019).

In Afghanistan, IEDs were responsible for the majority of civilian harm, accounting for 78% of civilian casual-ties in 2019. Civilian casualties from IEDs similarly rose by 8% last year (from 3,336 in 2018 to 3,596 in 2019). A similar rise in civilian casualties was also seen from airstrikes (8% increase from 463 in 2018 to 502 in 2019), while the increase in civilian casualties from ground-launched weapons stood at 36% (from 385 to 525).

Islamic State and the Taliban were responsible for the majority of attacks, though many casualty-causing incidents were reported where the perpetrator was unclear. At least 3,979 civilian casualties (86%) were caused in incidents perpetrated by non-state actors,

including 548 in Islamic State-perpetrated incidents and 1,896 in Taliban-perpetrated incidents.

Yemen After reported civilian casualties from explosive violence in Yemen rose slightly in 2018 compared to the previous year (up 8%), 2019 saw a decrease in civilian casualties from explosive weapons (from 1,807 in 2018 to 1,345 in 2019).

The fall in casualties appears to reflect a decrease in civilian casualties from airstrikes, which nevertheless resulted in at least 688 civilian casualties in the country in 2019 (a fall of 55% from 1,523 in 2018). Civilian casual-ties from IEDs and shelling rose during the same period.

While the figures indicate an overall decrease in explosive violence, the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, exacerbated by years of violence. With few reporters on the ground, our figures may not accurately reflect the true levels of harm.Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec

GROUND-LAUNCHED

AIR-LAUNCHED

IEDS

21%

23%

47%

IDLIB

LATAKIA

TARTUS

DARAA

DEIR EZ-ZOUR

AL-HASAKAH

AR-RAQQAH

AS-SUWAYDA

AL-QUNAITIRA

HOMS

HAMA

RIF DIMASHQ

ALEPPO

DAMASCUS

THE HARDEST-HIT PROVINCES IN SYRIA IN 2019

MONTHLY CASUALTIES OF EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE IN 2019

7,256CIVILIANS

KILLED OR INJURED

COMBINATION

9%

301-700 INCIDENTS

101-300 INCIDENTS

51-100 INCIDENTS

11-50 INCIDENTS

1–10 INCIDENTS

0 INCIDENT

MONTHLY CIVILIAN CASUALTIES MONTHLY ARMED ACTOR CASUALTIES1250

1000

750

500

250

0

= 100 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIESFigure 2 Most affected countries and territories in 2019

Position Country/ Civilian All Number of Average Percentage Global Territory casualties casualties recorded civilian of casualties ranking incidents casualties who were in 2018 per incident civilians

1 Syria 7256 8774 1479 5 83% 1

2 Afghanistan 4630 9187 821 6 50% 2

3 Yemen 1345 1821 144 9 74% 3

4 Somalia 950 1482 124 8 64% 6

5 Libya 906 1001 125 7 91% 8

6 Sri Lanka 753 761 1 753 99% 36

7 Pakistan 719 1145 153 5 63% 5

8 Iraq 638 1358 245 3 47% 4

9 India 362 608 158 2 60% 9

10 Philippines 236 360 38 6 66% 10

11 Nigeria 211 329 19 11 64% 7

12 Turkey 200 233 30 7 86% 16

13 Myanmar 176 219 66 3 80% 23

14 Egypt 158 242 19 8 65% 25

15 Gaza 148 179 29 5 83% 12


LibyaAfter a rise in violence in 2018, AOAV monitored further escalation in 2019. Last year, AOAV recorded 906 civilian casualties as a result of explosive weapon use in Libya. This amounts to a 131% increase from the harm seen in 2018, when 392 civilian casualties were recorded.

The dynamics of the violence have also changed. In 2018, IEDs were responsible for 81% of civilian casualties reported in Libya; in 2019, they accounted for just 72 recorded civilian casualties.

Civilian casualties from airstrikes in Libya rose from 21 in 2018, to 649 in 2019; while casualties from ground-launched weapons rose from 53 in 2018, to 169 in 2019.

This increase in civilian casualties reflects the rise in violence between Haftar and government forces, as well as more states increasingly becoming involved in the conflict in Libya.

Aftermath of the Jolo Cathedral bombings which occurred on January 27th 2019. Albert Alcain/Presidential Photo, January 28th 2019.

SomaliaAOAV recorded 1,482 casualties from explosive violence in Somalia last year, with civilians accounting for 64% (950) of this total. This reflects a 14% rise in civilian casualties in 2019 (with 832 recorded the previous year).

Of civilian casualties recorded in the country in 2019, 93% were caused by IEDs. While the number of civilian casualties from IEDs rose in 2019 (from 779 in 2018, to 888 in 2019), the number of IED casualty- causing incidents recorded fell from 80 in 2018 to 62 in 2019. While this could reflect a growing sophistication in such attacks or in the production of IEDs, it appears that the numbers of security personnel casualties have decreased. This suggests that while there have been less attacks, civilians more often became the target. In 2018, 64% of IED incidents occurred in populated areas, compared to 74% in 2019.

18 civilian casualties also resulted from the United States’ increasing use of airstrikes across the country targeting Al Shabaab fighters.

While such attacks on this scale are uncommon, the bombings across Sri Lanka on April 21st 2019 serve as a chilling reminder of the work that still needs to be done to counter IEDs and address extremism.

MyanmarAOAV recorded 176 civilian casualties from explosive violence in Myanmar in 2019, having almost quadrupled from the 45 civilian casualties recorded the previous year. Most occurred across the Rakhine and Shan states, as conflict across these regions saw increasing civilian harm.

Artillery shelling and landmines pose the biggest threats to civilians in the area, with 100 civilian casualties caused by ground-launched explosive weapons and 47 from landmines. The remaining casualties were caused by an airstrike, IEDS and naval-launched explosives.

Explosive weapons alongside other forms of violence and oppression in the worst impacted areas of Myanmar have forced thousands into displacement, with even more in need of humanitarian assistance.

PhilippinesThe Philippines saw 360 casualties from explosive weapons recorded from English-language media sources last year. Of these, 236 were civilians (or 66%). The number of civilians killed and injured represented a 23% increase compared to the previous year.

Similar to 2018, the majority of civilian casualties were caused by IEDs. 193 civilian casualties were caused by IEDs in the Philippines in 2019, accounting for 82% of total civilian casualties last year. 40 civilian casualties were due to grenade attacks and three from an airstrike.

A variety of armed groups are present in the Philippines, which meant often the perpetrators of attacks went unknown. Those groups recorded among the perpetrators include Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Abu Sayyaf and the New People’s Army (NPA).

A GLOBAL PROBLEMThe results of explosive violence continue to be felt across the globe, from Colombia to the United States, from Kenya to the Ukraine.

Sri LankaOn Easter Sunday 2019, suicide attacks took place across Sri Lanka; in Colombo, the countries capital, Negombo and Batticaloa. The attacks targeted churches packed with worshippers celebrating Easter, as well as luxury hotels in the capital. AOAV recorded 753 civilian casualties from the attacks.

This was the first suicide bombing in Sri Lanka since the civil war in Sri Lanka, a bloody conflict that ended with enormous loss of life a decade earlier.

Local militant group National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) were blamed for the attack. Islamic State also claimed the attack, with the NTJ founder having pledged allegiance to that group.

‘‘Ambulances were scurrying and we only heard the wailing of the wounded – and families of those victims. What a terrible day! God will never forgive this carnage.A shopkeeper in Colombo’s Muslim neighbourhood told reporters after the suicide bombings on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka.25

One of the targeted hotels in the bombings in Colombo, The Kingsbury Hotel. AKS.9955, May 6th 2016. Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aftermath_of_the_Jolo_Cathedral_bombings.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aftermath_of_the_Jolo_Cathedral_bombings.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/The_Kingsbury_Hotel.JPG



Countries and territories with between 101 and 2,000 incidentsAfghanistan 821, India 158, Iraq 245, Libya 125, Pakistan 153, Somalia 124, Syria 1479, Ukraine 196, Yemen 144 Countries and territories with between 31 and 100 incidentsMyanmar 66, Philippines 38

Countries with between 11 and 30 incidentsEgypt 19, Israel 16, Gaza 29, Mali 20, Thailand 25, Turkey 30

Countries with between 2 and 10 incidentsBangladesh 5, Burkina Faso 5, Cameroon 4, Chad 2, Chile 2, Colombia 9, Ethiopia 5, France 2, Indonesia 4, Iran 3, Kenya 9, Mexico 2, Nepal 5, Niger 9, Russia 2, Saudi Arabia 4, Sudan 2, Sweden 2, Tunisia 8, USA 3

Countries and territories with 1 incidentAlbania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Brazil, China, Denmark, DRC, El Salvador, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Lebanon, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, UK, West Bank

Casualty-causing incidents of explosive violence recorded by AOAV in 2019

such attacks recorded under the coalition name. The two coalitions responsible for the largest number of civilian deaths and injuries were the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, and the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria. Joint attacks by Russia and Syria as well as by Afghanistan and the United States were also recorded. Civilian casualties were also recorded by NATO’s use of explosive violence.

Non-State actorsCollectively, non-state actors caused 15,640 casual-ties in 2019, of whom 73% were civilians (11,418). This compares to 14,462 casualties in 2018, of whom 74% were civilians (10,716). These figures point to a 7% rise in civilian deaths and injuries. This is likely to be linked to the rises in violence recorded in Afghanistan last year. There was also a rise in non-state violence in Syria, with 326 incidents of non-state explosive violence recorded last year, compared to 326 in 2018.

AOAV recorded 44 different non-state actors using explosive weapons.26 The most prolific non-state actors in 2019 are listed in Figure 4. In 2019, Islamic State was responsible for 19% of civilian casualties from non-state explosive violence. The Taliban were the reported perpetrators of 131 attacks, resulting in death or injury to 1,896 civilians, just over 17% of the total.

Figure 4 Biggest non-state users of explosive weapons in 2019

Due to the understandable limitations of data collection, groups which do not routinely claim responsibility for their attacks, or which operate in areas where attribution to a specific actor is difficult, may have been responsi-ble for more attacks than were recorded. Overall, 888 incidents were committed by non-state actors but not claimed by any group – half of a total of 1,763 recorded incidents.

WHO IS BEHIND THE EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE?A significant proportion of explosive violence incidents recorded by AOAV in 2019 went unclaimed and could not be attributed to a specific actor. In 9% of incidents it was unclear from reporting whether a state or non- state actor was responsible.

State actorsThe 1,702 incidents that were attributed to a state, rather than a non-state group, caused 12,323 deaths and injuries in 2019. Of these 56%, 6,733, were civilians. This compares to 15,655 deaths and injuries in 2018, of whom 64% (10,041) were reported to be civilians. The most prolific state users of explosive weapons are listed in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Biggest state users of explosive weapons in 2019

AOAV recorded 192 incidences of Russian attacks, resulting in 1,106 civilian deaths as well as 483 by Syrian forces, resulting in 2,135 civilian casualties. This represents a rise in civilian casualties from both actors, though this may be due to less being reported as unknown compared to the previous year.

Civilian casualties by the Saudi-led coalition decreased significantly from 1,535 civilian casualties in 2018 to 527 in 2019. Similarly, civilian casualties from US-led coalition explosive violence continued to fall, from 959 in 2018, to 243 last year.

Of the 2,135 civilian casualties recorded by explosive violence from Syrian forces, at least 87% were seen in Idlib.

Twenty-five different state forces used explosive weapons in 2019. This is a slight increase from 2018, where twenty-four states’ use was recorded. However, many states operate under coalitions with

AOAV recorded explosive violence in 60 countries and territories across the world.Explosive violence was particularly intense in several contexts.

States 1 Syria 28% of incidents 2 Russia 11% 3 USA 6% 4 Turkey 6% 5 Afghanistan 5%

Non-state 1 Islamic State 12% of incidents 2 Ukrainian separatists 9% 3 Taliban 7% 4 Houthi rebels 4% 5 Haftar forces 3%


POPULATED AREAS As Figure 5 shows, in 2019 when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 90% of the deaths and injuries were reported to be civilians. This compares to 16% in other areas. In total, 17,893 civilians were killed and injured in populated areas.

This is consistent with the pattern of harm AOAV has persistently recorded since 2011. In every year of AOAV’s Explosive Weapons Monitoring Project, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas has been shown to overwhelmingly harm civilians: 84% in 2011, 91% in 2012, 93% in 2013, 92% in 2014, 92% in 2015, 92% in 2016, 92% in 2017 and 90% in 2018.

When explosive weapons are used in populated areas, areas with high concentrations of civilians, more people are killed or injured, and these – all too often – are civilians. Both state and non-state actors alike continue to deploy explosive weapons in populated areas, despite the likelihood of civilian casualties.

Despite the likely harm, the majority of reported casualty-causing explosive incidents – 58% in 2019 – were perpetrated in towns and cities. At least 2,219 incidents of explosive violence occurred in populated areas last year. This means slightly more incidents occurred in populated areas in 2019, compared to the previous year, when 1,928 were recorded.

In addition, civilian deaths and injuries in populated areas represented 92% of all reported civilian deaths and injuries from explosive weapons last year, demon-strating the disproportionate effect of explosives deployed in populated areas.

Figure 5 Total casualties by populated area / non-populated area

Explosive weapons in populated areas

Reported as populated

Not reported as populated

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0


Reported as populated

Not reported as populated

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0


In 2018, 90% of casualties in populated areas were reported as civilians. This is compared to 16% in other areas.

The majority of casualty-causing explosive incidents - 58% in 2019 – were perpetrated in populated areas.

Civilian deaths and injuries in populated areas represented 92% of all reported civilian deaths and injuries from explosive weapons.

=300 Civilians

THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES TO BE A CIVILIAN

CIVILIANS KILLED & INJURED: 2018 v 2019

2019

13%DECREASE

2019

19,401TOTAL CIVILIAN

DEATHS & INJURIES

SYRIA7,256 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

AFGHANISTAN4,630 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

LIBYA906 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

SOMALIA950 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

YEMEN1,345 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

17,910CIVILIAN CASUALTIES IN POPULATED AREAS

POPULATED AREAS

NON-POPULATED AREAS

2

3

4

5

1

2018

22,351TOTAL CIVILIAN

DEATHS & INJURIES

20,392CIVILIAN CASUALTIES IN POPULATED AREAS

POPULATED AREAS

NON-POPULATED AREAS

90%90%

2018SYRIA9,588 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

AFGHANISTAN4,268 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

PAKISTAN1,215 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

IRAQ 1,508 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

YEMEN1,807 CIVILIAN DEATHS & INJURIES

‘‘I rushed outside and saw several bodies just across the street. This is the second time in less than a month that a blast has broken our windows. I just fixed them a week ago.A shopkeeper in Kabul reported after a bomb blast.27


MARKET BOMBINGSSimilar to 2018, last year about 2% of all explosive incidents recorded (77 incidents) happened in market places. Last year, AOAV recorded 1,499 casualties from incidents of explosive violence in markets, including 1,435 civilians.

This means that of those killed and injured in the market bombings recorded, 96% were civilians. The average explosive violence incident in a market resulted in 19 civilian casualties.

64% of all civilian deaths and injuries from market bombings were recorded in just two countries: Iraq (38%) and Pakistan (26%).

IEDs make up the majority of civilian casualties recorded from market bombings, accounting for 58% of attacks.

The country worst impacted by market bombings were Syria and Afghanistan, where the majority of civilian casualties were caused by IEDs.

TARGETINGAs has consistently been seen to be the case through-out AOAV’s records, the targeting of armed actors with explosive weapons did not prevent civilians from being killed or injured. In 2019, 15% of those killed or injured by attacks which were explicitly coded as targeting armed actors were civilians. In populated areas this rose to 58%, whilst in non-populated areas it fell to 3%.

It must be stressed, then, that the use of explosive weapons that impact a wide area particularly endan-gers civilians, even if these weapons are directed at a military objective.

WOMEN The majority of media sources did not include report-ing of the gender of victims in 2019.

Women were reported among those killed and injured in 637 incidents, including those incidents where no figure was given. Overall, 1,008 women were reported killed or injured in 610 incidents.

This figure does not include armed actors. Likewise, it does not include female suicide bombers. In 27

civilians). So, in incidents of explosive violence where a figure was given for the number of children among the casualties, children accounted for 24% of total casualties (or 26% of civilian casualties).

Of the incidents reported that saw children killed or injured, at least 88% took place in populated areas.

LOCATION

RESIDENTIALThe highest number of civilians killed and injured were from incidents in residential areas or civilian houses. AOAV recorded 646 such incidents in 2019.

These incidents resulted in 3,294 civilian deaths and injuries, a rise of 47% from 2018 when 2,244 civilian casualties were recorded from 383 incidents in such areas.

As in previous years, due to the frequency of bom-bardment in some areas many incidents in urban areas became categorised under “multiple (urban)”. An additional 202 explosive violence incidents were recorded in these multiple locations, resulting in 3,170 civilian casualties. 171 of such incidents were recorded in Syria.

Of the casualties recorded in urban residential areas, airstrikes accounted for 38% of the civilian casualties caused there; IEDs accounted for 30%, as did ground-launched explosive attacks.

VILLAGES732 incidents were recorded from the use of explosive violence in villages, resulting in 2,600 civilian casualties.

Many of these incidents (454) were perpetrated in Syria, which accounts for 62% of the civilian casual-ties from explosive weapon use in villages, followed by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.

Most civilian casualties from these incidents were caused by airstrikes, accounting for 47% of civilian harm in villages.

incidents women were reported amongst the casual-ties but no figure of women killed was given.

The majority of women who were killed or injured were victims of attacks in populated areas. It was found that 96% of female casualties recorded, occurred in populated areas.

CHILDRENThe majority of media sources did not include report-ing of the age of any victims in 2019.

In 2019, AOAV recorded 2,019 child deaths and injuries in 778 incidents. Of these, a gender was given for 465 individuals, of whom 204 were girls and 261 were boys.

The rest were reported without specifying gender. In a further 32 incidents, no figures were given for numbers of children killed or injured but children were reported to be amongst the victims.

In the incidents where child casualties were recorded there were 8,255 total casualties (including 7,807

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Refugee and his children in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

‘‘There was a huge boom and the hall went dark. People were running and falling in all corners. It was like doomsday.Sakhi Mohammed, a guest at a wedding in Kabul where a suicide bomber targeted in August 2019.28

Figure 6 Locations with the most civilian deaths and injuries


methods are used to deploy explosive weapons. AOAV also records reported casualties of landmines. These are excluded from analysis in the following sections.30

Figure 7 Civilian casualties by weapon type in 2019

AOAV records information on the explosive weapon used in any incident. The full list of the recording types used can be found on pages 7-8. These are kept deliberately broad in order to reflect the language commonly used in source reporting (i.e. ‘shelling’, which can cover several types of ground-launched weapons). More specific weapon types are used where such information is available in the source material.

The total number of civilian casualties recorded by AOAV from each explosive weapon type is shown in Figure 7. There are different ways of evaluating the threat that various explosive weapons have had for civilians in 2019. These are explored over the following sections.

In order to better understand how these different explosive weapons have endangered civilians in 2019, AOAV has split them into three different groups based on their launch method.

Air-launched weapons include any explosive munition dropped from an aircraft. If a bomb, missile or rocket is specified in the reporting of an incident (e.g. ‘Hellfire’ missile, FAB aircraft bomb) it is recorded under these narrower categories.29 Other explosive attacks from the air are coded more generally as ‘Air strike’.

Ground-launched weapons are manufactured conventional ordnance that range from small hand grenades to heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers. They can be fired from a variety of platforms, but all are launched from surface level.

IEDs are improvised explosive devices. These cover any explosive weapon not manufactured through a commercial process, although they can include conventional ordnance. IEDs vary greatly in purpose, size and power, and in their mode of detonation. The broadest recording type is ‘Non-specific IED’ which encompasses anything from a magnetic bomb attached to a car to a vest of explosives detonated in a market square.

In addition to these three categories, AOAV records casualties from attacks where multiple launch

Explosive weapon types

Weapon Civilian Average civiliantype casualties casualties per incident

AIR-LAUNCHED EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS

GROUND-LAUNCHED EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS

IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES (IEDs)

5,517CIVILIANS KILLED

& INJURED IN 2019


& INJURED IN 2019


& INJURED IN 2019

7 IN 10 INCIDENTS OCCURRED INPOPULATED AREAS

INCIDENTS WERE RECORDED IN16 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES IN 2019

90% OF DEATHS & INJURIES IN POPULATED AREAS WERE CIVILIANS







Air-launched 5517 4Air Strike 4865 4Air-dropped bomb 382 3Missile 150 4Multiple explosive 118 30weaponsRocket 4 1Ground-launched 3893 4Artillery shell 382 4Grenade 378 4Missile 185 3Mortar 812 6Multiple explosive 90 5weaponsRocket 710 4RPG 11 1Shelling 1325 3Tank shell 0 0IED 9122 7Car bomb 3426 21Multiple explosive 254 36weaponsNon-specific IED 4392 6Roadside bomb 1050 3Mine 285 2Anti-personnel mine 2 2Anti-vehicle mine 8 8Landmine 275 2Multiple types 501 19Multiple explosive 501 19weaponsNaval-launched 22 7Artillery shell 10 5Missile 12 12Unclear 61 5Missile 54 5Rocket 7 7


COUNTRIESThe majority of civilian casualties from air-launched explosive weapons in 2019 were recorded in Syria (see Figure 8). The civilians killed and injured by air-launched weapons in Syria account for 62% (3,434) of all civilians killed or injured worldwide by such weapons. 2,607 occurred in Idlib alone.

Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan also saw high numbers of casualties from airstrikes, with 688, 649, and 502 civilian casualties from air-launched explosive violence respectively.

While Yemen experienced a 55% decrease in civilian casualties from airstrikes, both Afghanistan and Libya saw increases. Afghanistan saw civilian casualties from airstrikes rise by 8% (from 463 in 2018 to 502 last year).

Libya saw an almost 3000% increase in civilian casualties from airstrikes in 2019 – from 21 in 2018 to 649 last year.

USERSWhile the number of civilian casualties from airstrikes fell in 2019, compared to the previous year, there was actually an increase in the number of air-launched explosive incidents; from 983 in 2018 to 1,305 last year. This seems to reflect a rise in airstrikes by Russia and the regime forces in Syria, Haftar forces in Libya, and by Afghanistan in their own country.

In Syria, the Russian and Syrian governments contin-ued to carry out airstrikes. While more were identified than in previous years, it remains the case that it is often difficult to identify whether strikes were carried out by Syria or Russia, or both.

Nevertheless, last year AOAV identified Syria as responsible for 1,367 civilian casualties from air-strikes and Russia for 1,094; this was an increase of 41% and 58% in civilian casualties respectively compared to the year before.

Where the United States specifically was identified as the perpetrator, as opposed to the US-led coalition, these strikes accounted for 8% (98) of total, global air-launched incidents, and resulted

DEATHS AND INJURIESAir-launched explosive weapons include a wide variety of ordnance, from bombs dropped out of planes or helicopters, to missiles fired by unmanned drones.

A fall in civilian casualties from airstrikes continued last year. AOAV recorded 5,517 civilian casualties from airstrikes in 2019, compared to 7,202 civilian deaths and injuries from the previous year.

Last year, air-launched weaponry accounted for 28% of all civilian deaths and injuries recorded worldwide.

In total, AOAV recorded 10,815 total deaths and injuries from aerial explosive weapons in 2019. Civilians accounted for 51% of these casualties, a lower share than last year, when they accounted for 59%.

When aerial explosive weapons were used in areas reported as being ‘populated’, 90% of those killed and injured were civilians. In areas that were not recorded as populated, that figure dropped to 8%.

In 2019, 54% of air-launched explosive violence incidents were recorded in populated areas; a slight increase compared to 2018 where 52% of airstrike incidents were recorded in populated areas.

Figure 8 Worst five countries for air launched weapons in 2019

in at least 287 civilian casualties. Of these, 211 occurred in Afghanistan, 18 in Somalia and 58 in Syria. The US-led coalition accounted for another 53 incidents and 243 civilian casualties.

Other perpetrators seeing high levels of civilian casualties from their airstrikes include Turkey (214 civilian casualties from airstrikes), the Saudi-led coalition (527 civilian casualties), Haftar’s forces in Libya (515), and Israel (140).

Air-launched explosive weapons

Air-launched explosive weapons killed and injured 5,517 civilians in 2019 (28% of all recorded).

Civilians accounted for 51% of total casualties from airstrikes recorded.

When airstrikes were recorded in areas reported as being ‘populated’, 90% of those killed and injured were civilians.

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‘‘I got injured in my head and I was bleeding. I ran away from the hospital with my colleague to a safe place but we found nothing that could help me stop the bleeding. It was the most difficult moment of my life.An injured health worker reported after an airstrike hit near a hospital in Kitaf in March 2019.31

A school in Yemen bombed by the Saudi-led Coalition. Felton Davis, April 8th 2019. Flickr (CC BY 2.0).


https://www.flickr.com/photos/felton-nyc/46651641575


Figure 9 Casualties by ground-launched weapon type

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PERPETRATORSGround-launched explosive weapons were used by state and non-state actors for a similar number of incidents last year. Non-state actors were recorded as responsible for 44% of incidents and state actors for 39% of all ground-launched attacks. 166 incidents (16%) were recorded without it being known whether it was caused by a state or non-state actor.

SPECIFIC TYPESFigure 9 illustrates the range of ground-launched weapon types that AOAV tracks, and their respective impact on civilians in 2019.

Non-specific shelling accounted for the largest amount (34%) of civilian deaths and injuries from ground-launched weaponry. 55% of all non-specific shelling causing deaths and injuries occurred in Syria.

Grenades, mortars and rockets also caused a signifi-cant amount of civilian harm, responsible for 378 (10%), 812 (219%) and 710 (18%) civilian casualties respectively, compared to 851 (25%), 666 (19%) and 262 (8%) in 2018.

As in previous years, reported ground-launched explosive attacks were more likely to be in populated areas than other kinds of incident. 67% of all ground-launched incidents recorded were reported as taking place in populated areas, compared to 54% of air-launched incidents and 57% of IED incidents.

COUNTRIESAOAV recorded casualties from ground-launched explosive weapons in 35 countries and territories in 2019. 43% of the deaths and injuries from this launch method were in Syria.

Afghanistan, Yemen, India, Pakistan, Libya, Turkey and Myanmar all saw over 100 civilian casualties from ground-launched explosives.

DEATHS AND INJURIESGround-launched weapons are manufactured conven-tional ordnance that range from small hand grenades to heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers. They can be fired from a variety of platforms, but all are launched from surface level.

In total, these weapons reportedly killed and injured 5,321 people in 2019; 3,926 of whom were civilians (74% of total deaths and injuries from this weaponry). This is a slight rise in casualties compared to the year before for this launch method. In 2018, 4,524 casual-ties were recorded from ground-launched weapons, including 3,444 civilians.

Civilian casualties from ground-launched weapons accounted for 20% of total civilian casualties from explosive weapons in 2019.

Ground-launched explosive weapons

Ground-launched explosive weapons reportedly killed and injured 5,321 people in 2019.

74% of casualties from ground-launched explosives last year were civilians.

67% of all ground-launched incidents recorded were reported as taking place in populated areas.

The destruction in Khay Shaykhun, Syria. Anas Aldyab, July 18th 2019. Pexels.

‘‘We all would have died if we stayed, so we fled.a villager said after artillery fire hit their village in Maynmar’s Rakhine State in March 2019.32


https://www.pexels.com/photo/2677142/

‘‘I was not very far away from where the blast occurred, and I could see several people lying [on the ground], some of them dead with a pool of blood .Abdikarim Mohamed told reporters after the car bombing in Mogadishu in July 2019.33

Non-specific IEDs saw an average of six civilian casualties per incident. Roadside bombs saw three.

For the majority of IED incidents no detonation mecha-nism was reported, as it often the case. Despite this, AOAV recorded detonation mechanisms for 40% of reported incidents.

VICTIM-ACTIVATED IEDS Victim-activated devices are most commonly detonated when a person or animal stands on them, or when they are driven over.35 IEDs detonated in this fashion are typically considered as de facto antipersonnel mines36 under the Mine Ban Treaty and are therefore prohibited under international humanitarian law.37 Their random trigger mechanism means that they cannot distinguish between armed actors and civilians, and as such are inherently indiscriminate.

AOAV recorded 297 incidents involving victim-activated IEDs in 2019, or 13% of the total number of victims from IEDs (12% of civilian casualties from IEDs) and 8% of the total number of explosive violent incidents worldwide.

In 2019, six countries saw more than 500 civilian deaths and injuries from IED attacks: Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Iraq.

For the third consecutive year, Afghanistan was the country worst impacted by IEDs, with the most civilian casualties from this weapon type – despite Syria seeing more IED incidents. This is largely due to the fact that in Syria most IEDs seem to be victim-operated ones laid by ISIS compared to the more infrequent suicide attacks and car bombs in Afghanistan.

Of the 308 IED attacks recorded in Afghanistan, 45 (15%) were suicide attacks, resulting in 1,865 civilian casualties; 52% of all civilian casualties from IEDs in Afghanistan. On average, each suicide attack in Afghanistan saw 41 civilian casualties, compared to an average of 7 civilian casualties in non-suicide IED incidents.

Nevertheless, Syria saw a slight increase in civilian casualties from IEDs. AOAV recorded 337 IED incidents in Syria an increase of 43%, compared to the previous year. This was matched by a 25% increase in civilian casualties; from 12,209 in 2018, to 1,515 last year.

USERSIEDs were exclusively used by non-state actors in 2019. AOAV recorded IED usage by 34 non-state entities.

Of the 431 incidents for which responsibility was assigned, 44% were attributed to Islamic State groups, though these accounted for 39% of civilian deaths and injuries from IED incidents where the perpetrator was identified. Following Islamic State, the largest numbers of civilian deaths and injuries were caused by the Taliban (32%), Al Shabaab (15%) and Boko Haram (4%).

DEATHS AND INJURIESIn 2019, AOAV recorded 12,171 deaths and injuries from IEDs. Civilians continued to see the majority of harm from such devices, accounting for three-quarters (75%) of casualties from IEDs.

The number of casualties is similar to the previous year, with just a slight decrease from the 12,535 casualties, of which 9,374 were civilian, recorded in 2018.

IEDs accounted for 47% of all civilian casualties recorded last year. So, while manufactured weapons account for the majority of civilian casualties, IEDs account for more civilian casualties than ground-launched or air-launched explosives.

As with other launch-method types, IEDs caused particularly high levels of civilian harm when used in populated areas, which was the case in 57% of all recorded attacks – totalling some 706 incidents. In these incidents, 90% of reported deaths and injuries were civilians, contrasting with 25% in other areas. On average, IED incidents in populated areas killed or injured 12 civilians per attack. COUNTRIESIn 2019, IEDs resulted in at least one casualty in 51 different countries and territories, two more than in 2018. Figure 10 shows the seven countries that saw the most civilian casualties from IEDs in 2019.

Figure 11 shows the locations where the most civilian harm resulted from IED attacks. IED attacks on roads caused the highest number of civilian deaths and injuries in 2019. AOAV recorded 362 incidents of this kind resulting in 2,089 deaths and injuries, of which 50% (1,047) were civilians. While roadside bombings are frequent, they usually impact civilians and armed actors relatively equally.

Other particularly badly affected areas included resi-dential areas, places of worship, and markets. Such locations prove to be popular targets as they often have a particularly dense concentration of civilians.

DELIVERY METHOD AND DETONATION SYSTEMAOAV’s recording distinguishes between car bombs,34 roadside bombs and more general non-specific IEDs.

The majority of incidents (55%) reported were recorded as non-specific IEDs. Roadside bombs accounted for a further 31% and car bombs for 13%. As is typically the case given their greater payload capacity, car bombs were the most injurious IED type for civilians, killing and injuring on average 21 civilians per incident.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs)

In 2019, AOAV recorded 12,171 deaths and injuries from IEDs.

IEDs accounted for 47% of all civilian casualties recorded last year.

IEDs resulted in at least one casualty in 51 different countries and territories.

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Figure 10 Top seven countries for civilian IED casualties in 2019


Nevertheless, Afghanistan continued to be the country worst impacted by suicide attacks. 51% of all civilian casualties from suicide attacks in Afghanistan last year took place in just one city – Kabul. For incidents where the perpetrator group was identified, the Taliban was responsible for 80% of civilian casualties, whilst Islamic State was responsible for 20%. This the re- verse of the situation in 2018, when Islamic State were responsible for three-quarters of civilian casualties from suicide attacks in Afghanistan, when a perpetra-tor was identified. Though this is more consistent with the trends of previous years.

Nevertheless, Islamic State suicide attacks in Afghani-stan were more likely to result in civilian casualties. Of all casualties from suicide attacks in Afghanistan where Islamic State were identified as the perpetrator, civilians accounted for 94% of the casualties. When the Taliban were identified as the perpetrator of such attacks, civilians accounted for 79% of the casualties.

As with other explosive weapon types, when suicide bombings were used in populated areas they inflicted much higher levels of civilian harm. 66% of recorded incidents took place in populated areas. In these attacks, around 91% of those killed and injured were civilians. This compares to 5% in other areas.

In total, 99% of the civilian casualties from suicide attacks occurred in populated areas. Suicide attacks in populated areas caused an average of 46 civilian deaths and injuries per incident.

In 2019, victim-activated IEDs resulted in an average of four civilian casualties in each attack; this is slightly higher than last year when there were two victims recorded per attack.

COMMAND-OPERATED IEDS These are detonated generally by radio signals or command wire. AOAV divides these IEDs between those detonated by remote-control or command, and those that involved the suicide of the perpetrator.

Command-operated IEDs should technically provide the greatest level of control for a user. However, this is not necessarily an assurance of higher protection standards for civilians.

AOAV recorded an average of four civilian deaths and injuries per remote-detonated IED attack in 2019. Even where they are used to target armed actors, civilians were often killed or injured by these IEDs in 2019, either because of their large blast effects or the deployment of these weapons in populated areas.

In 2019, 53% of remote-detonation incidents recorded took place on roads. Remotely-detonated IEDs are particularly harmful to civilians when used in populated areas. In those attacks, 81% of those harmed were civilians (243 in total), compared to 24% in non-populated areas (160 in total).

SUICIDE BOMBINGS Suicide bombings, including car bombs operated by suicide bombers, are a form of command-operated IEDs. In total, AOAV recorded 133 suicide bombings in 2019, killing and injuring a reported 5,131 people. 4,063 of those casualties were civilians (79%), repre-senting a decrease of 26% compared to 2018.38

On average, 31 civilians were killed and injured by each suicide bombing – 5 more than in 2018, when the average was 26.

Although suicide bombings represented only 11% of all IED incidents recorded, they accounted for 45% of all deaths and injuries from harmful IED attacks.

52% (69 incidents) of the suicide bombings reported were recorded as non-specific IEDs, which, in the case of suicide bombings, largely refers to suicide vests. 47% (62 incidents) were recorded as car bombs. Non-specific suicide IED attacks caused an average of 33 deaths and injuries per incident, including 28 civilians, whilst suicide car bombs caused an average of 43, including 32 civilians. As would be expected, suicide car bombs generally cause the greatest number of casualties.

AOAV recorded suicide attacks in 21 countries. The countries worst affected by suicide bombings in 2019 were Afghanistan (1,865 civilian deaths and injuries), Sri Lanka (753), Somalia (649), Nigeria (151) and the Philippines (138).

After a consistent increase in civilian casualties from suicide attacks since 2013, last year Afghanistan saw a decrease in civilian casualties from suicide attacks, despite total civilian casualties continuing to increase across the country. Afghanistan saw an 27% fall in civilian deaths and injuries from suicide attacks in 2019 compared to the previous year.

Figure 11 Locations where the most civilian harm resulted from IED attacks

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Figure 12 Average civilian deaths and injuries by IED detonation method

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Eugeniy Dubitsky was injured by shelling in 2017 in eastern Ukraine.


The use of explosive violence in these areas not only leads to civilian deaths and injuries but also destroys infrastructure, which may deprive communities of water, sanitation, electricity and/ or medical care for example, and forces civilians to flee their homes.

Research by AOAV and our colleagues from the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) on the reverberating effects from the use of explosive weapons repeatedly shows the long-term devastation that continues to devastate the lives of civilians even long after the bombardment has ended.

While the number of casualties from the use of IEDs continued to fall in 2019, such improvised weapons left over 12,000 casualties; their use remains a source of concern. The impacts of IEDs

Though global casualties from explosive violence continue to fall over the last few years, civilians continue to suffer disproportionately from the use of such weapons. This is especially so when explosive weapons, particularly those with wide area effects, are used in populated areas.

AOAV’s data has consistently shown that when explosive weapons are used in populated areas this will almost inevitably cause civilian deaths and injuries. Explosive violence in populated areas is used by both state and non-state actors alike, despite such evidence showing that over 90% of those killed and injured will be civilians.

Civilian deaths and injuries in populated areas repre-sented 92% of all reported civilian deaths and injuries in 2019. Far more needs to be done to protect civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

Conclusion

Aftermath of Saudi-led Coalition airstrikes on university being used as a Houthi detention center in Dhamar, Yemen. Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Reuters. Felton Davis, September 2nd 2019. Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

have been felt globally. While Iraq, Syria and other countries continue to feel the impacts of the victim-activated, left by armed groups, other countries have witnessed the devastation of large coordinated attacks on civilians, as was seen in Sri Lanka last year, and frequently across Afghanistan.

Overall, the tragic reality is that numbers of civilians killed or injured by air and ground- launched explosive weapons, as well as by IEDs, is almost certainly higher than the 19,401 that AOAV has recorded.

In this 2019 publication, AOAV has sought to use the data to illuminate the suffering caused by explosive weapons. Inevitably, as we sift through information and mark trends, it becomes easy to see death as a number though each represents a human life lost, a family destroyed.

The international community must not only take note of the scale of the figures we have included in this report, but be cognisant of the fact that each number represents a life, frequently young, and almost always a civilian.

As a member of the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), AOAV and its colleagues urges states and all users of explosive weapons to:

• Acknowledge that use of explosive weapons in populated areas causes severe harm to individuals and communities and furthers suffering by damaging vital infrastructure;

• Strive to avoid such harm and suffering in any situation, review and strengthen national policies and practices on use of explosive weapons and gather and make available relevant data;

• Work for full realisation of the rights of victims and survivors;

• Develop stronger international standards, including certain prohibitions and restrictions on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

In developing these standards, states and other actors should make a commitment that explosive weapons with wide area effects will not be used in populated areas.

Syrian refugee camp in Arsal, Lebanon.




• States should be cognisant of the fact that even where civilians have not been immediately killed or injured as a result of explosive violence, the reverberating effects of attacks may have an impact on infrastructure and civilians’ daily lives and survival.

• States and users of explosive weapons should work towards the full realisation of the rights of victims, including those killed and injured, their families, and affected communities. They should strive to ensure the timely and adequate provision of needed services for the recovery, rehabilitation, and inclusion of victims of explosive violence, without discrimination.

• Recognising the large number of civilian casualties caused by IEDs, all parties should work on meas-ures which address the high level of humanitarian harm caused by these weapons.

• AOAV has demonstrated over almost a decade the importance of systematic and continuous monitoring of explosive violence and its impacts in populated areas. This monitoring must continue in order to assess whether recommendations are put into effect.

• More research is needed to better understand the long-term harm from explosive weapons, including the impact of these weapons on vital infrastructure and services, public health, and environmental contamination. More funding support for NGOs working on data collection, investigations and victim assistance is necessary to advance collec-tive understanding of the impacts of explosive weapons in populated areas.

• States and other actors should stop using explo-sive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas.

• Previous AOAV reports, along with other notable publications by UNOCHA, ICRC and CIVIC, have shown the impact that strong, progressive rules of engagement can have in limiting the impact of explosive weapons on civilians.39 States should review their policies and practices on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, particularly those which may be expected to impact a wide area.

• States, international organisations and civil society should work together to develop the international political declaration to address the harm caused to civilians by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, in line with the recommendations of the United Nations Secretary General.

• States should be transparent about civilian casual-ties and casualty recording methods, and should routinely investigate and report on every casualty caused by their use of explosive weapons.

• States, international organisations, and non- governmental organisations should gather and make available data on the impacts of explosive weapons. Data on the casualties of explosive violence should be disaggregated so that stake- holders can accurately assess the impact of explosive weapons. More should also be done to protect and support people and organisations who gather such data, including providing access to journalists on the ground.

Recommendations

At least one casualty from an explosive weapon must be reported in order for an incident to be recorded. Incidents with no clear date or which merely give a location as a country are excluded, as are incidents which occur over a period of more than 24 hours (e.g. 150 people killed by shelling over the last week). Casualty numbers must be clearly stated; reports which only describe ‘several’ or ‘numerous’ cannot be recorded. When there are multiple sources for the same incident, those which provide the most detail or most recent casualty information are selected.

SOURCESAOAV uses a wide range of English-language news sources, many of which are translated by the publisher. The most commonly-used sources are AP, AFP and Reuters. We also use the most credible data cited (i.e. the lower limit of civilian harm) from organisations such as Airwars.

RECORDING GUIDELINESCivilian/armed actor or security personnel: All casualties are assumed to be civilians unless other-wise stated.41 Casualties are recorded as ‘armed actors’ if they are reported as being members of the military,

AOAV uses a methodology adapted from an incident-based methodology used by Landmine Action and Medact in 2009 which in turn was based on the Robin Coupland and Nathan Taback model.40

Data on explosive violence incidents is gathered from English-language media reports on the following factors: the date, time, and location of the incident; the number and circumstances of people killed and injured; the weapon type; the reported user and target; the detona-tion method and whether displacement or damage to the location was reported. AOAV does not attempt to comprehensively capture all incidents of explosive violence around the world but to serve as a useful indicator of the scale and pattern of harm.

No claims are made that this data captures every incident or casualty of explosive violence in 2019.

SELECTING INCIDENTSAn RSS reader is used to scan Google News for key terms which relate to explosive weapon use: air strike* artillery* bomb* bombing* cluster bomb* cluster munitions* explosion* explosive* grenade* IED* mine* missile* mortar* rocket* shell.*

Methodology

Bombed buildings in eastern Ukraine.


If none of these conditions are met then the user is recorded as unknown. Users are recorded as ‘state and non-state’ when both users are identified but it is not possible to establish which one was responsible for the particular incident.

LIMITATIONSThis methodology is subject to a number of limitations and biases, many relating to the nature of the source material on which it is dependent and the lack of a mechanism to follow up reports with in-depth investi-gation. It is recognised that there are very different levels of reporting across regions and countries so that under-reporting is likely in some contexts. In addition, only English-language media reports are used, which does not provide a comprehensive picture of definitive explosive weapon use around the world.

The methodology is designed to capture distinct incidents of explosive violence with a clear date and location. In some contexts of explosive violence, particularly during intense armed conflict, casualties cannot be assigned to specific incidents but a total number is reported as the result of a period of days. These casualties cannot be included in the dataset.

As the methodology relies on reports which are filed shortly after an incident took place, there is no mecha-nism for assessing whether people reported as wounded in the immediate aftermath of an incident subsequently died from their injuries. This is another factor that should be assessed when considering the likelihood that the actual numbers of fatalities of explosive violence are higher than the numbers recorded by AOAV. There is no systematic base-line for determining what constitutes an injury, and AOAV is therefore subject to the assessment of the news source.

On a number of occasions firearms were also reported as having been used alongside explosive weapons. While AOAV always tries to determine the casualties specifically caused by explosive weapons, in these incidents new sources are not always able to clarify which casualties were caused by which weapon type, particularly in incidents that involved large numbers of casualties. It is therefore possible that some casualties in these incidents may not have been caused by explosive weapons.43

members of non-state armed groups, or security personnel who are likely to be armed, for example; police, security guards, intelligence officers, and paramilitary forces.

Intended target: The target for an attack is only recorded if one of the three conditions below are met:

• The target is declared by the user.

• It is clearly reported in the source.

• The specific contextual conditions of use clearly indicate a target (e.g. if an IED is attached to the car of a police officer or soldier, ‘State armed’ is recorded as the target).

Populated area:Incidents are designated as occurring in populated areas likely to contain concentrations of civilians if: a) It is stated in the source (e.g. a busy street, a crowded market); b) If an incident occurs in or near a pre-defined location which is likely to contain concentrations of civilians e.g. commercial premises, entertainment venues, hospitals, hotels, encampments (containing IDPs, refugees, nomads), markets, places of worship, public gatherings, public buildings, public transport, schools, town centres, urban residential neighbourhoods, villages/ compounds.

This definition of a populated area is based on Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) which defines concentrations of civilians as: “any concentrations of civilians, be it permanent or temporary, such as in inhabited parts of cities, or inhabited towns or villages, or as in camps or columns of refugees or evacuees, or groups of nomads.”42

User status: Responsibility for the use of explosive weapons is assigned where any of the following conditions are met:

• The group or actor responsible has claimed responsibility.

• The user of the explosive weapon is clearly stated in the report.

• If the user of the explosive weapon has employed technology clearly associated only with that user in the context in question.

Media reports used by AOAV are a valuable resource for better understanding the scale and pattern of explosive violence use. However, these reports are less helpful for capturing other types of harm known to be characteristic of explosive weapons in populated areas. Damage to infrastructure, the risk of ERW, long-term health effects, and displacement are all aspects of the pattern of harm caused by explosive weapons which are not fully represented in the data set. However, reporting on these effects is often limited, with news sources focusing on the immediate aftermath of an incident. For instance, only 197 incidents out of 3,816 reported damage to a location. Effects which are the result of cumulative levels of explosive violence, for instance communities dis-placed by heavy shelling or continued insecurity, cannot be fully represented by this research.

AOAV is focused on capturing the harm caused by explosive weapons at the time of use. Accidental detonations are recorded but not included in the overall figures. Last year, AOAV recorded 82 incidents of accidental detonation resulting in 426 deaths and injuries, 227 of whom were civilians.

Explosive weapons that fail to explode as intended can linger in the form of explosive remnants of war (ERW) for years, if not decades, to come. In 2019, AOAV recorded 126 incidents involving unexploded ordnance causing 324 civilian deaths and injuries. The actual number of casualties from ERW is far higher.44

Poorly secured or stockpiled explosive weapons can also cause unintended harm to civilians. AOAV recorded eight stockpile explosion in 2019.

Refugee tents in Bekaa Valley.


10 Mortars are generally indirect-fire weapons which fire projectiles over a high-trajectory and do not depend on a line-of-sight. Erich G. Berman, Pierre Gobinet and Jonah Leff, “Mortars,” Small Arms Survey, Research Notes - Number 2, February 2011, www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-2.pdf (accessed 08 Jul. 20).

11 A populated area is one that is likely to contain concentra-tions of civilians. It is based on Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). The full definition and guidelines for recording an area as being populated is detailed on pages 35.

12 Safi, M, ’Death toll in Sri Lanka bombings revised down to 253’, Guardian, 25 Apr 19, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/25/death-toll-in-sri-lanka-bombings-revised-down-to-253 (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

13 Doubek, J. ’Suicide bomber kills 63, injures 182 at wedding reception in Kabul’, NPR, 18 Aug 19, https://www.npr.org/2019/08/18/752124196/suicide-bomb-er-kills-63-injures-182-at-wedding-reception-in-kabul?t=1566230934381&t=1592923349649 (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

14 Xinhua, ’Somali capital bomb attack kills 79, injures 149’, 29 Dec 19, https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1175093.shtml (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

15 Al Jazeera, ’Afghanistan: Several killed in Taliban car bomb attack in Ghazni’, 07 Jul 19, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/afghanistan-killed-taliban-car-bomb-at-tack-ghazni-190707060218685.html (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

16 AP, ’Yemeni medics: 135 bodies found after Saudi-led airstrike’, 11 Sep 19, https://apnews.com/2b9af42e6c4e4b-07b9f15af3535b5df8 (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

17 BBC, ’Libya migrants: UN says attack could be a war crime’, 04 Jul 19, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48854420 (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

18 Abed, F. et al. ’Violence in Afghanistan Worsens as U.S.- Taliban Peace Talks Plod On’, New York Times, 07 Aug 19, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/world/asia/kabul- afghanistan-bombing-taliban.html (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

19 Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, ’101 were killed yesterday including 8 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them and 93 other people’, 23 Jul 19, https://www.syriahr.com/en/135616/ (accessed 23 Jun. 20)

20 TOLO, ’Taliban truck bomb attack in Kabul kills 16’, 03 Sep 19, https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/taliban-truck-bomb-attack- kabul-kills-16 (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

21 Al Jazeera, ’Afghanistan hospital attack death toll soars to 39’, 20 Sep 19, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/killed-car-bomb-attack-afghan-province-zabul-1909190421 38106.html (accessed 23 Jun. 20).

22 In alphabetical order the 60 countries are: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, DRC, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Gaza, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, USA, West Bank, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

23 These only include casualties from an explosive weapon at its time of use. AOAV also recorded impacts of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned ordnance (AXO), and from unattended or mismanaged stockpiles. These casualties are excluded from the primary analysis in this report, but are documented on pages 36.

1 United Nations, ‘Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict’, 27 May 2020. https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-05-27/secretary-generals-remarks-the- security-council-open-debate-the-protection-of-civilians- armed-conflict-delivered (accessed 28 May. 20).

2 AOAV, 2016, ”Wide Area Impact: Investigating the wide area effect of explosive weapons”, https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Wide-Area-Impact-explo-sive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf (Accessed 28 May. 20).

3 Article 36 and PAX, 2016, ”Areas of harm: Understanding explosive weapons with wide area effects”, http://www.article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/PAX-A36-Areas-of-Harm.pdf (Accessed 28 May. 20).

4 The definition of a populated area used by AOAV is based on Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) which defines concentrations of civilians as: “any concentrations of civilians, be it permanent or temporary, such as in inhabited parts of cities, or inhabited towns or villages, or as in camps or columns of refugees or evacuees, or group of nomads.” The full definition is available at: “Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III),” ICRC, Geneva, 10 October 1980, posted by U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov/documents/organization/190579.pdf (accessed 08 Jul. 20). AOAV’s guidelines for recording an area as populated are included in the Methodology.

5 Iain Overton et al, ‘Wide-Area Impact: Investigating the wide-area effect of explosive weapons’, (AOAV 2015) https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Wide- Area-Impact-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf (accessed 08 Jul. 20).

6 The category of ‘mines’ includes both antipersonnel landmines and antivehicle mines. In many incidents, news sources often report what were likely actually victim-activated IEDs as ‘mines’ or in ambiguous language and it is not clear in many instances whether these incidents involve manufactured or improvised explosive weapons.

7 Attacks described as air strikes can combine the firing of explosive missiles, the dropping of aerial bombs, and/or strafing using automatic weapons. There is often a lack of detail in media and official statements as to which specific weapons were used. On this basis incidents reported as air strikes were recorded as the use of an explosive weapon unless it is clear that only non-explosive weapons were used.

8 Missiles are defined as “an armament store designed to be released from an aircraft or discharged from a gun or launcher towards a selected point usually to cause damage at that point.” International Ammunition Technical Guideline, “Glossary of terms, definitions and abbreviations,” United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, IATG 01.40:2015(E) 2nd Edition (2015-02-01) https://unoda-web.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/convarms/Ammunition/IATG/docs/IATG01.40.pdf (accessed 08 Jul.20).

9 Rockets, both air and ground-launched, are defined as “munitions consisting of a rocket motor and a payload, which may be an explosive warhead or other device. The term often includes both guided and unguided missiles, although it traditionally referred to unguided missiles.” International Ammunition Technical Guideline, “Glossary of terms, definitions and abbreviations,” United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, IATG 01.40:2015(E) 2nd Edition (2015-02-01) https://unoda-web.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/convarms/Ammunition/IATG/docs/IATG01.40.pdf (accessed 08 Jul. 20).

Notes

31 BBC, ‘Yemen war: Eight killed in air strike near Kitaf hospital’, 27 Mar 2019, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47711413 (accessed 07. Jul 2020)

32 Radio Free Asia, ‘Seven Villagers Killed by Heavy Artillery in Myanmar’s Rakhine State’, 22 Mar 2019, https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/seven-killed-in-si-taung-gyi-03222019163833.html (accessed 07 Jul. 2020).

33 Defense Post, ‘Somalia: More than a dozen killed in Mogadishu car bomb explosion’, 22 Jul 2019, https://www.thedefensepost.com/2019/07/22/somalia-mog-adishu-car-bomb/ (accessed 07 Jul. 2020).34 Car bomb’ is taken as shorthand for vehicle-borne IEDs or VBIEDs, including explosives concealed in or built into vehicles of all kinds. Thus some car bombs may in fact be bike bombs or truck bombs.

35 24 percent of IED attacks with a reported mode of detona-tion in 2019 were triggered by victim-activation.

36 Though some IEDs may be designed to only be triggered by a vehicle. For instances of this please see: CAR, ‘Dispatch from the Field: Mines and IEDs Employed by Houthi Forces on Yemen’s West Coast’, September 2018. Anti-vehicle mines are not covered by the Mine Ban Treaty.

37 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their destruction, 18 September 1997, https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1997/09/19970918%2007-53%20AM/Ch_XXVI_05p.pdf (accessed 07 Jul.20).

38 In 2018 AOAV recorded 5,513 civilian deaths and injuries as a result of suicide bombings.

39 Robert Perkins, “Air Power in Afghanistan, How NATO changed the rules, 2008-2015,” Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), December 2015, https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/AOAV-Air-Power-in-Afghanistan.pdf (accessed 07 Jul. 20); Robert Perkins, “Under Fire, Israel’s artillery policies scrutinised,” Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), December 2015, https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/AOAV-Under-Fire-Israels-artillery-policies- scrutinised.pdf (accessed 07 Jul. 20).

40 For more information see www.insecurityinsight.org (accessed 07 Jul. 20).

41 In a minority of cases, there is a possibility that armed actors were among those killed and injured by explosive weapons, but the exact details of the number of armed actors killed or injured was not recorded. Incidents which meet this profile are coded as ‘yes’ in a column titled ‘Could armed actors be included among the dead and injured?’ incidents coded in this manner represented just 1% of all incidents recorded by AOAV in 2019.

42 Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III),” to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, Geneva, 10 October 1980, www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/515 (accessed 07 Jul. 20).

43 AOAV recorded 70 such incidents in 2019.44 International Campaign to Ban Landmines, ‘Landmine

Monitor 2019’, November 2019, http://www.the-monitor.org/media/3074086/Landmine-Monitor-2019-Report-Final.pdf (accessed 07 Jul. 20).

24 In alphabetical order these were; Chad, Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Georgia, Guatemala, Rwanda, South Africa, Taiwan, United Kingdom, West Bank.

25 Handunnetti, D. ‘A day after Sri Lanka bombings, Colombo resembles a ghost city’, Al Jazeera, 22 Apr 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/day-sri-lanka-bombings-colombo-resembles-ghost-city-19042211 2111125.html (accessed 07 Jul. 20).

26 ADF (DRC), Afrin Liberation Forces (Syria), Al Shabaab (Kenya and Somalia), Al-Umar Mujahideen (India), AQAP (Yemen), Arakan Army (Myanmar), Baloch Raji Ajoi Sangar (Pakistan), BIFF (Philippines), Boko Haram (Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon), CPI (naxals) (India), ELN (Colombia), Former FARC (Colombia), Hamas (Israel), Hashid Shaabi (Iraq), Hasm (Egypt), Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham (Syria), Hizbul Ahrar (Pakistan), Houthi rebels (Yemen, Saudi Arabia), Individualists Tending to the Wild (Chile), Islamic State (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, France, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen), Jaish al Adl (Iran), Jaish-e-Mohammed (India), Jamaat ul Ahrar (Pakistan), JNIM (Mali), Kachin Independence Army (Myanmar), Kurdish forces (Syria), Haftar forces (Libya), MS-13 (gang) (El Salvador), NDF (Syria), Northern Alliance (Myanmar), NPA (Philippines), Okba Ibn Nafaa (AQIM affiliate) (Tunisia), Oromo Liberation Front (Ethiopia), Pakistan Taliban (Pakistan), PKK (Iraq, Syria, Turkey), Pro-Saudi militia (Yemen), SDF (Syria), Syrian rebels (Syria), Taliban (Afghanistan), TNLA (Myanmar), Turkish-loyal factions (Syria), Ukrainian separatists (Ukraine), ULFA (India), Wrath of Olives (Syria), YPG (Syria, Turkey). There were also various other actors identified only as individuals, gangs, or rebels.

27 AFP, ‘Taliban suicide attacks in Afghanistan leave dozens dead’, The Guardian, 17 Sep 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/17/taliban-suicide-attacks-in-afghani-stan-leave-dozens-dead (accessed 07. Jul 20).

28 Constable, P. and S Hassan, ‘Islamic State claims suicide attack on Kabul wedding that killed 63’, Washington Post, 18 Aug 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/bloody-suicide-attack-on-kabul-wedding-kills-at-least-63/2019/08/18/ace5f0d4-c17d-11e9-a5c6-1e74f7e-c4a93_story.html (accessed 07 Jul. 20).

29 Barrel bombs, which are improvised makeshift weapons that comprise fuel, explosive content and often metal fragments, are included under the air-dropped bomb recording type. It is often unclear in media reporting whether descriptions of ‘barrel’ bombs in fact designate improvised weapons or conventional aircraft bombs with similar wide-area effects.

30 The category of ‘mines’ includes both antipersonnel landmines and antivehicle mines. In many incidents, news sources often report what were likely actually victim-activat-ed IEDs as ‘mines’ or in ambiguous language and it is not clear in many incidents whether these incidents involve manufactured or improvised explosive weapons. For detailed information on the incidents of antipersonnel and other types of mine use around the world see International Campaign to Ban Landmines, ‘Landmine Monitor 2019’, November 2019, http://www.the-monitor.org/media/3074086/Landmine- Monitor-2019-Report-Final.pdf (accessed 05 Jun. 20)


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/world/asia/kabul-afghanistan-bombing-taliban.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/world/asia/kabul-afghanistan-bombing-taliban.html

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/taliban-truck-bomb-attack-kabul-kills-16

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/taliban-truck-bomb-attack-kabul-kills-16

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/killed-car-bomb-attack-afghan-province-zabul-190919042138106.html



https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-05-27/secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-open-debate-the-protection-of-civilians-armed-conflict-delivered




https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Wide-Area-Impact-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf

https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Wide-Area-Impact-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf

https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/AOAV-Under-Fire-Israels-artillery-policies-scrutinised.pdf



https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/day-sri-lanka-bombings-colombo-resembles-ghost-city-190422112111125.htm



http://www.the-monitor.org/media/3074086/Landmine-Monitor-2019-Report-Final.pdf

http://www.the-monitor.org/media/3074086/Landmine-Monitor-2019-Report-Final.pdf

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